


Laid to Rest

by EmperorsVornskr



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternative Universe - Southern Gothic, M/M, Monster Armitage Hux, Monster Kylo Ren
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:48:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26272891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmperorsVornskr/pseuds/EmperorsVornskr
Summary: Kylo makes an offering to Hux to apologise for things he's had to do to protect the land.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren
Comments: 11
Kudos: 30





	Laid to Rest

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Doncaster_Ren](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doncaster_Ren/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Bloodlines and Brandy](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22989934) by [SouthernHellhound (EmperorsVornskr)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmperorsVornskr/pseuds/SouthernHellhound). 



> A birthday gift for my beloved partner, Doncaster_Ren. I love you, Sir! ♥

Alabama only had two real seasons- sweltering humid summer, and rainy humid winters with cold spots in them. With every year getting warmer and warmer, the winters were milder, and autumn was no longer even a transitional point. The heat of summer would keep its hold almost until the end of November, until the last major front- or hurricane- of the season came through and brought the beginnings of winter. 

Then, the pecans, as sensitive and hysterical as any plant ever could be, would drop their leaves entirely in one night, while around them, the ancient oaks would sigh and shed their summer foliage, but wouldn’t lose their leaves entirely. And all around them, the other trees would blush slightly in shades of gold and hints of red, but otherwise would remain predominantly green- a testament to the mildness of Alabama winters. 

Still, as Hux stepped onto the porch, stretching and popping his joints, he could feel the land sighing and shifting in relief as the summer heat had finally relinquished its hold on her ancient bones. As he took his first barefoot step onto the damp grass, he could feel the chill in the pads of his feet, radiating from the grass and earth, and his own bones cracked and popped in response to the change of season. 

The day before had been the first violent cold front of the changing seasons as the polar air masses came down a bit lower, pushing down over warm air of the South and creating walls of storms that dragged cold air behind them. The weather had literally changed in less than twenty-four hours, and Hux had come outside to a sun setting in defeat after failing to warm the land back to summer temperatures. 

He inhaled happily. The air was still humid as ever, but it was cold, and the humidity helped the chilly air seep into his lungs and spread through his body like a renewing spring of vitality. The night air was delicious on his skin and in his hair, and all he wanted to do was run. 

So where was Kylo?

He lifted his head and scented the breeze. It carried the scents of autumn- of death and decay of both flora and fauna, of musk and fur, the last remnants of night blooming flowers expending themselves before the first frost killed them. Somewhere in the distance, the remains of a bonfire was smoldering, adding the scent of smoke and burning foliage. 

There he was- Hux caught his scent. The musk, the scent of offal and bone, of fur and and blood, and that peculiar scent that so intrinsically Kylo. A moment later, Kylo’s bony head came out of the thicket. Hux smiled at him. 

“Hi, love,” he said softly. Kylo rumbled and sat on his haunches, waiting. 

“I have something to show you,” he said softly. “Put on your coat.” 

Hux laughed, then fell forward onto all fours, his form shifting and growing as he let his true self come forward. Kylo churred in delight and pranced forward, nuzzling his muzzle into his mate’s gleaming white fur. Hux leaned against him, and rumbled happily. 

“What is it?”

Kylo darted away into the woods, and Hux gave chase. The two of them raced through the woods, following paths they’d made between the trees over the past few months- paths easier to see now that the leaves were thinning out. 

They broke into a clearing just as the sun had finally disappeared, and the full moon and stars shone on their fur as they came out of cover. They were surrounded by trees bare of leaves, and the sky overhead was positively filled with glittering stars. 

Kylo led Hux to a small stone pile that was draped in bare vines that hung heavy with seed pods. Hux knew by sight that it was a wisteria vine, and in the late spring and early summer, the stones would be completely covered with the fragrant purple blossoms. For now, all he could smell around the stones was the scent of freshly disturbed soil, and the barest trace of bone. 

“Kylo, what is this?” he asked, circling the pile. 

“An offering. A treaty. An apology,” Kylo said softly. Hux looked up at him, tilting his head and pricking his ears forward. 

“Of what?”

Kylo waited for his mate to sit beside him, then leaned against him, purring. 

“I still remember your reaction when you learnt the barrier contained the remains of your family. It haunted me.”

He flattened his ears and looked away. 

“I couldn't extricate them all, not without taking down the barrier. But I spent months combing through the barrier, and pulled a single bone from every single Hux that went into the barrier.”

He motioned to the disturbed earth. 

“I buried the bones here.”

Hux poked his nose at the stones.

“But the stones are overgrown… and they smell ancient.”

Kylo’s ears twitched and he looked hopefully at Hux. 

“This is where Mary Benson was buried,” he said softly. “I laid your ancestors to rest with the woman who was originally my family, and later the one who inadvertently cursed me. I felt it best to finally lay both sides to rest. Together.”

Hux had no words, his skeletal jaws gaping. 

“We will live forever to guard the barrier,” Kylo said. “Let the dead sleep, be at peace, and we will watch over them.” 

Hux tilted back his head, jaws parting, and he let out an eerie, hollow howl. His ribcage expanded, the fur on his throat rippling, and his song echoed through the trees and danced in the night air. Unable to resist, Kylo threw back his head and joined him, their voices harmonising in the autumn night as they sang a funeral dirge for their long departed, and ever beloved. 

Above them, the cold stars hummed and glittered to the ancient song, committing it to memory. Like the two immortal creatures whose cries rang out to the heavens in which they resided, the stars were old, and their memories were as long as their lives. 

As long as the stars spun in the skies, and the two bengesko roamed the land, the memory of those laid to rest under the hibernating wisteria would never fade, never be forgotten, and those old bones could finally know peace in the soft dark of the welcoming earth. 


End file.
